Feel Like Home
by Trumpeteer34
Summary: Six months after the Invasion of New York, Betty Ross receives a phone call. Bruce/Betty fluff


I do not own any of the named/recognizable characters present. They belong to Marvel. This was written purely for fun.

* * *

On a night in late autumn, months after the invasion of New York, Betty Ross pulled into her driveway and shifted her car into park. She sat there for a moment before she turned off the vehicle, listening to the last bit of the radio story spilling out of her car speakers. It was a report on how Manhattan was still recovering from the massive invasion, how one of the local business owners had finally reopened his restaurant for business.

Betty leaned back in her seat a little when the radio personality started asking the man he was interviewing about what, exactly, had caused the destruction. The guy said he wasn't entirely sure, but there was an imprint on one of the walls of a giant fist. Thankfully, he said, the wall had remained standing, and would turn into what he hoped to be a tourist attraction. Kids apparently loved to see how tiny their fists compared to the Hulk's.

When the interviewer asked whether he blamed the Hulk for the damage to his restaurant, the man scoffed. "I can't say for sure, but I'm fairly certain that he was kicking one of those aliens' asses. So no, I can't say I blame the Hulk for the damage. The Hulk's right up there with Cap'n America and Iron Man, in my book."

Once the next newscaster started to give the weather report, Betty heaved a sigh and shut her car off. As she collected the groceries from her back seat, she reflected on the report. While it made her unspeakably happy to hear stories like that, casting the Hulk in a positive light, it still pained her to hear them at all.

Back in May, as soon as she had heard about the invasion occurring in Manhattan, and that a certain green giant was amidst the remarkable group of people trying to stop it, Betty had hopped in her car and started racing from Virginia to New York. The only thoughts going through her mind were _Bruce is back_ and _dear god, please stay safe._

But by the time she got into New Jersey, the fight was over, and several armed forces were corralling drivers away from New York. Betty had managed to get a room in a seedy hotel for two days, but by the time the Coast Guard had reopened the roads into New York City, planes were already flying from city airports again.

She remembered the heaviness that had enveloped her as she watched a plane disappear into the clouds, heading out over the ocean and out of the country. It was the same heaviness that had come over her when she watched the Hulk flee from Harlem, the last time she had seen him in years.

Bruce was on the move again.

She had returned to Virginia feeling empty and lost.

Betty shook her head out of those thoughts and collected the rest of her groceries before she stepped into her home.

* * *

It was just after eight o'clock when her phone rang. Betty finished writing the comment in the margin of a student's essay before she picked up her cell phone to see who it was.

The number on the screen wasn't one she recognized; she didn't even recognize the area code. She almost considered letting it go to voicemail, but considering that she had some time right now, she pressed a button to accept the call.

"Dr. Ross," she answered, her standard greeting to both colleagues and students alike, and carefully tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

There wasn't a response on the other line, but she heard the caller's breath hitch. She immediately froze, and suddenly nothing else in the room mattered except for the phone in her hand. She focused everything on the person on the other line as anticipation shot through her, and her own breath hitched a little.

She hardly recognized her own voice when a quiet, breathless "…Bruce?" found its way past her lips.

Another pause, another hitched breath came from the other end of the call before an equally quiet, equally breathless "...Betty," came through.

Warmth instantly spread through Betty's chest, and a silent, breathless laugh escaped from her. Tears silently fell from her eyes as she heard the man on the other line struggle to continue.

"Betty," he said again with difficulty, and she could hear the tightness in his voice. "Betty…I—I'm sorry I wasn't able to call sooner. It's, um…it's been an interesting few months."

"Bruce," she breathed again, a bright watery smile spreading on her face at the sound of his voice. God, how she missed his voice. "I…I-I saw the footage from the invasion. I tried to get up there, but with the road blocks a-and the National Guard…" She trailed off and sunk back in the chair she was already seated in. The hand that wasn't clutching the phone settled against her forehead. "What…what area code are you calling from? Where are you?"

"It's a New York code," he replied.

Before he could go on, she jumped to her feet. "I'm coming. Stay right where you are, I'm coming—"

There was a huff of laughter on the other end of the call. "I'm in Virginia right now, Betty," he said softly. "Could I… Would you…" There was a momentary pause as he collected his thoughts. "I'd like to see you." The words sent a wave of elation though her and a few fresh tears down her face. "Can…can I see you? Please?"

"Do you really need to ask?" Betty replied with a watery laugh of her own, wiping away the tears. "I'm at the same address. How far are you?"

"About half an hour," he replied.

They stayed on the line with each other until Betty saw a car pull up outside of her house. She rushed outside, not even pausing as the driver's door opened and the man stepped out of the vehicle, and she raced into Bruce's arms. The car hadn't even been turned off yet, but it didn't matter.

They embraced desperately, holding on to the other like they never wanted to let go. How she had longed to feel his arms around her again, and to feel her arms around him again. She had craved this, been craving it for years, since he first disappeared after the lab accident. What she had had before the Harlem escapade was but a taste of what they had before the accident, but it had been worth it.

And now he was back, in her arms and returning her embrace just as fervently as she was clinging to him. She was wrapped in his warmth, made almost uncomfortably hot by the radiation, but it just made him feel all the more real against her.

"Bruce," she whispered into his throat, voice tight with emotion, before she drew her face back to kiss him soundly on the lips.

He froze for all of a second before he sighed happily and kissed her back, and she felt him relax in her arms, and there was no greater feeling in the world right then.

They remained there in the driveway in the late autumn night, his car engine still running and her house door still ajar, spilling light out onto the lawn that mixed with the headlights from his vehicle. It could have been minutes that passed between them as they hugged and kissed out in the open for anyone to see, but it felt like hours to Betty.

When they finally broke apart, drawing quiet gasps of air and keeping their arms wrapped around the other, Betty lightly ran her hands through his greying curls. "Your hair's gotten long," she mused softly. From there, her fingers traveled over the skin on his neck and face. "…and you're tanner."

The comments brought a smile to Bruce's face, one that reached his eyes to make his deep brown irises light up and the lines around his eyes crinkle. He pulled her into another hug, which she returned immediately. "God, I missed you," he breathed into her hair for what could have been the twentieth time since they had been reunited. "I'm so sorry I left."

Betty pressed her lips to his cheek, and then nuzzled her face into his throat again, breathing him in. "You came back," she whispered. She pulled back, just enough to rest her forehead against his, to look him in the eye. "How long can you stay?"

"As long as I can," Bruce replied without a hint of hesitation, "as long as you'll have me."

Betty smiled, full and wide, and pulled him into another kiss. She waited until he turned off his car and grabbed his bag before she took his hand and led him into her home.

* * *

The next four days passed in a hazy cloud of happiness and nostalgia. Betty still had a boatload of vacation time from her lab job, and her teacher's assistants could handle her classes for a few days, so they stayed together, inseparable, for nearly each and every second of it.

They spent a lot of that first day just talking about everything that had happened since the accident and since Harlem, and then what had happened after the invasion of Manhattan—everything. She had marveled in his surprised excitement about having the Hulk actually work as a force for good. He explained that he had been living in Stark Tower since the invasion, with the rest of the team (a team both he and the Hulk were a part of), and was now employed at Stark Industries.

And while she had been worried that Bruce had been living with Tony Stark, the man who had designed a great deal of weapons that her father had enthusiastically used against Bruce, she was stunned that it was Tony Stark who helped him become a free man again. The past six months had, apparently, been one of great legal battles between the US Army and Stark's finest lawyers. It explained why the Hulk had never appeared when the Avengers showed up occasionally in the news to save the day. As soon as he had received his pardon and been deemed free, he had immediately packed a bag and headed to Virginia to see her.

She made a mental note to thank Stark, if she ever met him.

They stayed curled up together on the sofa long into the night and well into the morning, just holding each other as they talked through everything. And once they woke up late the next morning, nestled into the couch and each other, they talked some more.

Betty also moved his things from the guest room she had situated him in the night he had arrived, and put them in her room instead. She was relieved that she didn't need to convince him to share a room with her, since they had already fallen asleep in each other's arms just as easily as ever. It wasn't awkward at all, drifting off to sleep against him after so long apart. She felt right at home, wrapped in a loose embrace against his chest, and she couldn't help but smile.

* * *

Something started beeping in the middle of the night. Betty blinked awake slowly and pressed herself back against the warmth behind her as Bruce reached behind him, fumbling for his phone on the nightstand. She heard him groan quietly before he put the cell phone in front of her face to show her the message.

She hissed when the light from the screen temporarily blinded her, shutting her eyes against the offending bright light. "Did you feel lonely in your blindness?" she asked with a quiet laugh.

"My glasses aren't in here, and I can't read this," Bruce explained, his voice rough with sleep. The easy solution would have been to get out of bed and find them, but he instead wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. As he spooned up against her again, she relished the warmth of his body.

She read the message to assemble aloud, and once she had finished, he sighed against her neck in resignation. It was a call about some nut in a town just to the west of Culver who had managed to accidentally enlarge an army of insects that were currently terrorizing the rural town.

"I'm sorry to leave you like this," Bruce said, lips brushing lightly against the back of her neck.

Betty turned in his arms and pressed a soft, understanding kiss to his lips. "It's fine," she said, letting a hand run tenderly along his face. The stubble along his jaw prickled beneath her fingertips. "It's your first official call to assemble. You need to go."

The next minute rushed by as Bruce changed out of his pajama bottoms he had been wearing and into a pair of almost-ratty pants that he had packed just for this kind of occasion. He paused in his rush to pull her into a kiss. "I'll call soon," he promised against her mouth before he pressed a quick kiss to her lips. "Please stay safe."

Betty returned his kiss with one of her own. "You too. Please be careful."

A smile appeared on his face, and it nearly floored her to realize just how much this man had changed in their time apart. He was still her Bruce, but there was a confidence in him that had never been there in all the time she had known him, even before the accident. It made something in her belly flip and something in her chest flutter.

After one last kiss and embrace, he was gone. She watched the car pull away, and continued watching even after the red light of his taillights had vanished into the early morning, leaving her standing alone on her porch.

A few minutes passed, and she stepped back inside her home, carefully closing the door behind her. Her hand lingered on the doorknob, her eyes on the ground as the emptiness of the house settled over her. She turned, letting her gaze travel to the living room, taking in every small piece of evidence that Bruce had been there—had _really_ been there.

There were two mugs sitting on the coffee table with only the remnants of tea discoloring the bottom of the ceramic cups. A cookbook had been pulled from her bookshelf that hadn't been opened in years, not since the last time she and Bruce had cooked together, back in their old apartment. His glasses were still sitting on the end table next to the paperback book he had been reading while she had finished grading her students' essays. Even when they weren't even talking, Bruce's quiet companionship had warmed her house and made it feel like home.

Betty's eyes lingered on Bruce's glasses, and a moment later, she came to a decision. She grabbed his glasses and rushed to her room.

A few minutes later, she rushed from her house and to her car.

* * *

Betty was pretty sure she found the right area, judging by the large ant corpse lying half in the road. As she drove further into town, the debris got worse and worse. She was honestly a little surprised that she hadn't met any resistance, like she had when she had tried to get to New York during the invasion.

She parked her car on a fairly clear street and stood still for a moment before she began to follow the sound of thunderous footsteps. As she walked, she took in the damage that she could see in the pre-dawn light. It was almost eerily quiet, giving her the feeling that the battle had ended.

She turned a corner and immediately drew a startled breath the moment her eyes found the Hulk. Without moving any closer, she simply observed the scene.

His giant green back was to her, obviously focused on the task at hand. He was crouched down next to Iron Man and in front of a giant dead ant. It looked like the smaller of the two Avengers was taking some sort of sample of whatever fluids filled the inside of the enormous insect, with the Hulk holding the two edges of the fatal wound apart for Iron Man to work.

Betty took a moment to simply observe, a faint smile coming to her lips. It was remarkable to see Bruce's greener half standing so still and so calm, but more than that, it was incredible to see him standing next to someone.

Suddenly, Iron Man turned and looked directly at her.

Betty felt herself tense under the expressionless stare, and she realized that someone must have alerted him of her presence.

Before the suited man could do anything, the Hulk seemed to notice that his teammate's attention had been shifted and he glanced over his massive shoulder. His green eyes landed on Betty, and before she can really do anything except register the breathless feeling going through her, an enormous grin spread wide across his face. "Betty!" he roared in delight, standing to his full height before he crossed the warzone to her.

Behind him, Betty saw that Iron Man was coming over, too. She started to bristle, sure that he was going to try to keep the Hulk away from her, but then she saw the casual pace the other Avenger was using. She relaxed a little; he wasn't going to keep them apart. There was still a bit of distance between them, but she thought she could hear Iron Man talking to someone, probably through a communicator on the inside of his helmet.

She didn't focus on that. A smile appeared on her face as she looked up at the Hulk when he came to a stop a few paces away from her. She was thrilled to see that the Hulk remembered her, even after so long.

Hulk looked down at her, an expression of surprised pleasure written clearly across his enlarged face. Something like bashfulness crossed his countenance as he held up his hands, which were covered in some vile fluid. "Hulk messy," he said self-consciously. "Not touch."

The giant's improved speech surprised her. The last time they were together, the Hulk's vocabulary was extremely limited to only a few choice words interspersed between roars and growls and grunts.

Betty felt her smile widen. He was learning. "Well, come down here, then," she said as she stepped forward and raised her arms up.

She vaguely heard Iron Man go abruptly silent when the Hulk obediently knelt down. Once they were almost face to face, she focused on his facial features, so very much like Bruce's. She couldn't remember ever seeing Bruce's alter-ego ever look this happy. Her hands traced over his large face, drawing a content rumble from deep in the Hulk's chest, and she laughed a little breathlessly.

As her fingers carded through his messy hair, the Hulk's head bowed slightly, giving her better access to his scalp. "Hulk miss," he said in a low rumble, like a far-off thunderstorm.

Betty paused in her ministrations, and then moved her hands to his chin and gently lifted his head to look him directly in the eye. There were swirls of brown intermingled in his green irises, and she knew without a doubt that it was both Hulk and Bruce staring back at her. "I missed you, too," she said softly before she pressed a light kiss to the tip of his nose.

Another rumble, almost like a purr, sounded from deep in the Hulk's chest. "Betty," he said before his body began to shrink in on itself.

Keeping her grasp light, Betty followed the shrinking form until she was kneeling down on the debris-ridden street. She had only seen the transformation from Hulk to Bruce once, back in Sterns' lab years ago. Once she was able to, her arms circled around his bare shoulders. She watched the green recede away until it was just Bruce's slightly-paler skin beneath her fingertips.

Bruce collapsed forward, his head resting on her shoulder. Betty cradled his body with ease, simply holding his shivering form against hers. She thought she heard him mumble something vaguely resembling her name, but then he went limp as he lost consciousness.

They remained like that for a few uninterrupted minutes before a voice broke Betty from her reverie. "Pardon the intrusion, my lady."

The words jarred her from her thoughts, and Betty looked up with a start. Her eyes immediately found a large muscle-bound blond man standing above them—Thor. The demigod was holding a bright red piece of heavy fabric in his hands and easily met her gaze. His clear blue eyes held hers for a moment before he gingerly placed his cape upon Bruce's shoulders. The cloth draped from Bruce's much smaller frame to effectively shield his half-naked body from the morning chill.

Betty was struck by the kindness of the action and felt a smile rise unbidden to her face. She glanced up at Thor. "Thank you," she said, voice tight with emotion. Such a simple act of kindness shouldn't have had this effect on her, but knowing everything that Bruce had been through in the past, she couldn't help but feel so relieved that there was at least one member on this team who treated him with such care.

Thor returned the smile with a blinding one of his own, seeming to brighten the pre-dawn light. "Think nothing of it," he said. He knelt down next to the pair already on the ground. "I would gather that you are the fair maiden the good doctor has spoken most fondly of?"

Betty glanced down at the man passed out in her arms for a moment. She hadn't expected him to have told the other Avengers about her. "I'm Betty," she introduced herself, "Betty Ross."

The demigod gently took one of her hands from Bruce's back and placed a light kiss upon her knuckles. "A friend of Bruce's is a friend of mine, my lady," he said as his gaze returned to hers with another smile on his face. "I am Thor, son of Odin." His eyes lowered to Bruce's limp form. "May I?"

After realizing the man wanted to take Bruce, Betty instinctively held his body a little tighter. "Where are you taking him?" she asked. She could hear the protectiveness in her voice.

"Home, my lady," Thor answered. "The doctor is most exhausted after his berserker form has faded. He shall eat and rest until he is well again." He glanced around the battlefield, probably looking for the others, before he lowered his voice. "You may accompany us, if you wish."

Betty felt her eyebrows rise in surprise. "Really?"

"Certainly!" Thor proclaimed with an enthusiastic smile. "Come, our transport should be arriving presently. May I?' he asked again, reaching slowly for Bruce.

The thought of returning to New York with the other Avengers was jarring. She hadn't been entirely sure what she had wanted to do, once she had caught up with Bruce again, but it looked like an option had opened itself to her.

Once he had received her permission, Thor gingerly collected the unconscious man into his arms. The demigod effortlessly cradled him to his chest as he rose to his feet, even as he pulled the cape tighter around Bruce's body with one hand. Thor offered Betty his hand and pulled her to her feet with ease.

Betty felt tiny next to him, but after interacting with the Hulk a few minutes ago, she felt like she stood taller. She allowed the blond Avenger to lead her to the awaiting jet, where the others had gathered as agents of SHIELD began the clean-up.

* * *

That was how Betty found herself on a jet with the Avengers, flying off into the sunrise toward Manhattan. Once Thor had announced that they were bringing Betty back with them, a SHIELD agent had brought her the bag from her car (how they even knew was beyond her, but she had learned to stop questioning the capabilities of government agencies a long time ago). The agent told her not to worry about her vehicle and to enjoy the flight.

Aboard the plane, Thor had laid Bruce down in a more secluded portion of the jet (at least, it was away from the cockpit of the jet). He gave her two bottles of water and a damp washcloth, and then moved to sit down next to Captain America further up the plane. Iron Man was sitting across from them, and Black Widow and Hawkeye were both up front in the cockpit.

That had been about half an hour ago. Since then, none of the others had bothered her. She knew the five superheroes had watched her clean the dried insect juices from Bruce's hands, arms, and face. She knew that they were still watching her, some not as subtle as others, but she paid them no mind.

Instead, her focus was on Bruce, who was lying on the bench on his back with his head in her lap, still out-cold. Her fingers ran idly through his hair or lightly massaged the muscles in his neck and shoulders, the areas where he had mentioned that were most sore after a transformation.

Betty's fingers dug into a knot in Bruce's neck, and a quiet groan escaped from him. She looked away from the passing clouds out the window and down at the man.

Bruce's eyes slowly fluttered open and after a disoriented moment, they focused on Betty's face. Or, they _tried_ to focus on her face, but given his lethargic expression and the absence of his glasses, he made a valiant effort. He blinked slowly, just staring at her for a long time, before a small smile crossed his face. "Stay safe?" he asked, the words slurred and his voice rough.

She returned his rueful grin with a tiny smile of her own. "I missed the entire fight," she assured him. "I was safe." She resumed running her hands through his hair, and they sat quietly for the next few minutes. Bruce's eyes slipped back shut.

It felt like the others were watching them once more.

Another moment passed before Bruce opened his eyes again to give her a somber look. "…you know I was going to come back, right?" he asked softly, meant just for her to hear. When Betty's hand froze, like it had found a tangle in his hair, he brought a shaky hand up to rest on her other hand, which was settled on his shoulder. "This isn't like last time," he said in a low, melancholy voice. "I'm not running anymore."

Staring down at him, watching the guilt and hurt swirl in his saddened brown eyes, she realized that _that_ was why she had chased after him. Their separation had hurt him just as much, probably even more, when he had run away after Harlem, run away from her again.

Seeing him now, riddled with exhaustion and fervently wanting her to understand, made something in her chest and throat tighten, and she had to blink before the tears could appear in her eyes. "I know," she finally replied with a smile. The hand in his hair traveled to gently cup his cheek. "I know."

Bruce's eyes remained on hers for a lingering moment before he exhaled a long breath through his nose and closed his eyes in relief. When he opened them back up, he gave her a small smile and a gentle pat on the hand, and she almost kissed him right then and there.

"I take it you've met the others by now?" Bruce asked in a slightly louder voice.

When Betty didn't reply, and none of the other Avengers piped up, Bruce heaved an exasperated sigh and struggled to sit up, sure to keep the cape securely around his body. "Really, guys? You couldn't introduce yourselves?" he asked the rest of his team as Betty helped him get situated on the bench next to her.

The man in the pilot's seat spoke up. "Hey, I've been flying the jet," he said in his defense.

The red-headed woman sitting in the copilot's seat turned an indifferent look to the pilot. "That's not an excuse," she told him.

"She doesn't know that," the pilot replied, and even though Betty couldn't see his face, she could hear the smirk in his voice.

As Betty bit back a smile, Captain America turned toward where she and Bruce were seated toward the back of the plane. His cowl had been pushed back to reveal his face, where she found an expression of respectful politeness. "We didn't want to intrude on you, ma'am," he said. "You looked like you needed some time."

The goateed man sitting further down the bench on Bruce's other side finally looked up from his phone. Despite how many times she had seen his face on television and magazines, Tony Stark's smile was dazzling. "Does that mean we're finally allowed to talk now?" he asked. Before anyone else could speak up, Stark slid down the length of the bench until he was right next to Bruce. One arm went carelessly around Bruce's shoulders while his other hand reached out for a handshake. "Dr. Ross, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm Tony Stark; I'm sure the Big Guy here has told you _all_ about me."

Bruce turned a deadpan look over at Betty. "Betty, this is Tony," he said simply, not even looking like he was bothered by the man hanging off of him.

Betty took the offered hand in one of hers. "It's a pleasure, Mr. Stark," she answered, shaking hands with one of the most famous people in the world. It was a little strange.

Stark scoffed as their hands released. "Please, call me Tony."

Bruce cut in before Tony could go on, gesturing vaguely toward the front of the jet as his other hand held the cape closed against him. "Over there is Captain Steve Rogers, otherwise known as Captain America."

The super-soldier offered a polite nod. "It's nice to meet you, Dr. Ross."

As Betty returned the nod with a smile and a nod of her own, Bruce continued. "That's Thor, God of Thunder."

"We were formally introduced on the field of battle," Thor said with a bright smile, but he still gave Betty a nod of greeting.

"And up front, we have agents Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton, known respectively as Black Widow and Hawkeye," Bruce went on.

Agent Barton turned in the pilot's seat to shoot Betty a grin before he returned his focus to flying the jet. Next to him, Agent Romanoff turned enough to give Betty a nod of greeting, and then she also turned back around.

Betty's attention returned to Bruce when he leaned back against the bench a little. "Everyone," he said, and her heart fluttered a little when she heard the fondness that had found its way into his voice, "this is Dr. Elizabeth Ross."

It sounded a little like he had trailed off. Betty gently took his hand and intertwined their fingers. "His girlfriend," she finished for him. A warm smile touched her lips when Bruce turned to her with a look of open affection on his face.

Bruce squeezed her fingers lightly as his tender smile widened for a moment. He then cleared his throat and let their hands part. "And I'm still half-naked," he said to the room at large, carefully nudging Tony's arm from his shoulders. "Excuse me for a moment."

It seemed like he was a bit unsteady on his feet, but both she and Tony kept him upright until he found his footing.

As Betty watched her boyfriend walk deeper into the jet, she realized that she was alone with the other Avengers. She turned back around to face them. "I, um…" she began once Bruce was out of earshot, "I hope I'm not intruding."

Next to her, Tony snorted a laugh. Captain Rogers turned a polite smile her way. "You're not intruding in the least, Dr. Ross," he reassured her.

"Cap's right," Tony cut in with an easy smile. "_Mi casa _and all that. Stick around for a little while. You're working at Culver, right? They'll let you get away for a little bit, I'm sure."

Betty smiled. "Yes, I'm a professor and researcher at Culver University, but I'm afraid I have to be back by Monday."

"We can fly you back to Virginia on Sunday. That gives you three days to hang out in the tower," Tony replied.

"That is _if_ you want to stay that long, Dr. Ross," Captain Rogers interjected. "You shouldn't feel pressured by Tony, here."

"Yeah," Agent Barton jumped into the conversation from the front of the jet, "it's just his way of saying you're welcome to stay as long as you want. It'll give him time to pick through your brain."

"You're not picking through her brain, Tony." It was then that Bruce reappeared, dressed in a pair of loose slacks and a sweater. Thor's cape was draped over an arm and his gaze was turned on the billionaire. "It never did anything to you."

As Bruce passed by to return the cape to the demigod, Tony smirked a little leeringly. "Oh, but it _did_," he pressed. He scooted out of the way for Bruce to sit back down between himself and Betty. "I mean, have you _read_ some of her articles on chromatin immunoprecipitation?"

"And you've lost me," Captain Rogers said with a sigh, which made Thor and Agent Barton laugh.

The atmosphere in the jet immediately settled into something far less stifling than it had been when Bruce was unconscious. An easy conversation sprung up between them, and while Betty didn't partake in it, she was content to just sit and listen.

And when Bruce fell into a doze against her, fingers intertwined with hers again, Betty couldn't help but feel right at home.

* * *

A/N: I wrote this for a prompt, asking for Bruce/Betty reunion fluff. I see so little Bruce/Betty nowadays, I couldn't resist trying to write it myself. I hope you enjoyed.

I'm leaving this as incomplete as of right now, since I have some ideas for further chapters. Thank you for reading!


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